Gransnet forums

Chat

$10 for one cabbage! ( about £5). Eeek.

(44 Posts)
nanna8 Sun 05-May-24 04:53:26

That was this morning at the greengrocers. It is usually fairly cheap at that particular store. How on earth can people eat the healthy amount of veg each day with prices like this? Cheese has also rocketed up and as for the price of petrol… aaargh. Is it like this where you live or are we living in an ‘unfortunate pocket’?

karmalady Sun 05-May-24 12:00:21

my sisters grow loads in western australia. One has a few acres, put in their own water collection tanks and now have umpteen large raised beds, full of veggie.produce. The other has a small garden and grows lots of fruit in pots. They live just a few miles apart

It is all about trying and not relying on the shops

nanna8 Sun 05-May-24 12:27:22

I had a lovely passion fruit vine growing but it got covered in aphids. I did a very,very silly thing. I sprayed it with fly spray. The whole thing died in a week. So sad but a lesson learnt! It used to give me loads of fruit.

BlueBelle Sun 05-May-24 13:06:27

Cauliflowers here are £1.00 or just over £1,25 is the most I d pay Nanna8
My allotment has potatoes, onions, shallots, carrots, runner beans, peas, courgettes and leeks and fruitwise an apple and pear tree gooseberries bushes , raspberries canes and strawberries beds
Hard work but I love it At home in tubs/ pots or whatever I have cucumber, many herbs, and tomatoes,
The snails and slugs are my enemies otherwise as an enclosed garden I don’t get any wildlife

Aveline Sun 05-May-24 13:14:20

Wow that's impressive BlueBelle

Cossy Sun 05-May-24 13:17:43

RosiesMaw

I wondered how the cost of living compares with the UK -just looking at individual prices isn’t helpful without an idea of wages etc.

Good point and we also need to consider how much everything else costs too.

Cossy Sun 05-May-24 13:18:25

BlueBelle

Cauliflowers here are £1.00 or just over £1,25 is the most I d pay Nanna8
My allotment has potatoes, onions, shallots, carrots, runner beans, peas, courgettes and leeks and fruitwise an apple and pear tree gooseberries bushes , raspberries canes and strawberries beds
Hard work but I love it At home in tubs/ pots or whatever I have cucumber, many herbs, and tomatoes,
The snails and slugs are my enemies otherwise as an enclosed garden I don’t get any wildlife

Wow! That’s very impressive and I’ll wager taste better than shop bought stuff!

Casdon Sun 05-May-24 13:20:56

karmalady

my sisters grow loads in western australia. One has a few acres, put in their own water collection tanks and now have umpteen large raised beds, full of veggie.produce. The other has a small garden and grows lots of fruit in pots. They live just a few miles apart

It is all about trying and not relying on the shops

Where are they exactly karmalady, because water availability varies a lot depending on where you are in the state? One of my nephews is a professional parks gardener, and he only grows fruit, tomatoes and cucumbers at home because it’s too hot and doesn’t rain enough to collect enough water to maintain a full allotment patch, which he would love to do. South of Perth it becomes easier because they have more rain.

Esmay Sun 05-May-24 13:24:06

That's a lot of money .
Is it possible to grow fruit , salad and vegetables ?

Callistemon21 Sun 05-May-24 15:51:04

It is all about trying and not relying on the shops

Not necessarily.

The difficulties in farming, growing your own vegetables and fruit in Australia are different to those in the UK or in fact in addition to those we battle with here.

Water - often too much or too little. Different insect pests, kangaroos, wild pigs, fruit bats, not to mention snakes, huge spiders.
Rabbits .........

Callistemon21 Sun 05-May-24 15:54:17

Oh, and if you're near the sea or an estuary - crocodiles.

Witzend Mon 06-May-24 09:55:28

Callistemon21

Oh, and if you're near the sea or an estuary - crocodiles.

OMG, the Salties! Saw plenty of those on our last trip to Oz. After spending time in Salty areas, I found myself feeling daftly nervous about walking anywhere near rivers in Melbourne!

A dd spent many months in Darwin, and as a lover of sea swimming found it so frustrating that both beach and sea were strictly off limits. She’s of a generally risk-taking nature, but I really don’t think even she dared to tempt Fate.

I read recently that since numbers have increased dramatically, and there have been several fatalities, there’s going to be a cull of salties.

Callistemon21 Mon 06-May-24 10:00:39

I read recently that since numbers have increased dramatically, and there have been several fatalities, there’s going to be a cull of salties.

Oh! I'm surprised because they are protected generally except that Aboriginal peoples are allowed to kill them as it is part of their tradition.

It seems ironic that they are protected because they are also farmed for their skins.

Witzend Mon 06-May-24 10:09:09

From what I read, because numbers had declined drastically some decades ago, protection was introduced, but they have now increased equally dramatically, hence the cull.

Michael12 Mon 06-May-24 10:57:21

I got some Jersey Royals in Sainsburys recently 1kg for £3 and they seemed a little later due to the weather .
A friend who's daughter lives in jersey told me the locally grown royals are covered in seaweed to add to the flavour .
Mick

Callistemon21 Wed 08-May-24 15:41:11

Michael12

I got some Jersey Royals in Sainsburys recently 1kg for £3 and they seemed a little later due to the weather .
A friend who's daughter lives in jersey told me the locally grown royals are covered in seaweed to add to the flavour .
Mick

Jersey Royals used to be something special to look forward to but I think in the last few years production was increased with a consequent lack of flavour.
The seaweed thing is interesting. I knew an old lady who used to collect seaweed for her vegetable garden and she produced wonderful vegetables.

I'll look out for them and do a taste test!

Biscuitmuncher Wed 08-May-24 18:14:40

£150 for a melon in Harrods

Beechnut Wed 08-May-24 18:51:06

Callistemon21

Michael12

I got some Jersey Royals in Sainsburys recently 1kg for £3 and they seemed a little later due to the weather .
A friend who's daughter lives in jersey told me the locally grown royals are covered in seaweed to add to the flavour .
Mick

Jersey Royals used to be something special to look forward to but I think in the last few years production was increased with a consequent lack of flavour.
The seaweed thing is interesting. I knew an old lady who used to collect seaweed for her vegetable garden and she produced wonderful vegetables.

I'll look out for them and do a taste test!

I remember we used to go over the bridge to Portskewett with dads friend to get seaweed for vegetable beds. I don’t know about how his veg turned out but his dahlias looked nice!

flappergirl Wed 08-May-24 19:53:01

Jersey Royals really don't taste the same any more. In fact the ones I've bought over the last decade or so have not been nice at all. I tend to buy Cornish or Pembrokeshire new potatoes instead.

I knew seaweed was used by the commercial Jersey growers but I thought the practice was banned or stopped for some reason (cost cutting?) which people have attributed to the now inferior taste.

On the other hand I might have dreamt all of that.